Starting at Inaba
by kdyz
Summary: Persona 4 with lots of twists and Persona 3 incorporations. Storyline changed. What if Yuu was the son of Kirijo researchers? What if Yuu was able to save Saki Konishi? What if Yuu loved cheesecakes?
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys! It's been like half a decade already, been very busy. I bet this story won't have the same touch as my older stories did but I still hope you like this one!

Disclaimer: I do not own the persona franchise or anything directly related to it.

* * *

*ziiip*

"Is that everything?"

Yuu looked at the tall, platinum haired man who just appeared at his room's doorway before picking up his bag and nodding.

The man walked closer to Yuu and gave him a small box that looked like a present.

"What's this, dad?" Yuu said as he took the box and looked at it from all sides.

"Try opening it" Said the dark brown haired woman who just appeared at the doorway, smiling.

Yuu undid the ribbon that was holding the box shut and lifted up the cover from the box.

It was a platinum pocket knife with a leather case. It had his last name, "Narukami" engraved on its handle.

"It's really nice. Thanks dad, thanks mom" Yuu said while flipping the knife.

"An engineer over at our workplace made it" Yuu's mom said.

"It's made from some kind of new alloy, one of a kind. Take good care of it." Yuu's father said as Yuu placed the knife back into the box.

"You take care too, okay? I know it's not easy to transfer schools again but it can't be helped" said Yuu's mom.

Yuu was pretty much used to transferring schools whenever his parents transferred location. But this time, Yuu's parents had to conduct their research abroad, or so they said.

All Yuu knew was that they were researchers working for the Kirijo group, which always bothered him since Kirijo is known as a trading company and his parents were doctors who switched to the medical research field when they entered Kirijo, a company not known to be related to the medical field.

"look at the time, let's go or you'll miss the train" Yuu's mom said before giving a box of cheesecake to Yuu "Have this as a dessert at your uncle's house, your uncle loves cheesecakes"

* * *

*We have arrived at Inaba, all guests-*

Yuu took a glance out the window as the train slowly took to a stop.

The train station wasn't as densely packed with people like the ones at Tokyo, there isn't even that much advertisements as it did there.

Yuu took his bag and slowly headed out of the train and out of the train station while holding the box of cheesecake on his left hand.

*swoosh*

A girl wearing striped stockings while donning a blue hat walked past by in a rush

"Must be in a hurry" Yuu thought to himself as he noticed a man accompanied by a little girl walking towards him.

"It's Yuu!" The man exclaimed.

Yuu scanned over the man, he had the same hair color as his mother did, he also had a sturdy build. The little girl beside him had pigtails and was wearing a pink dress.

"You were just a tiny tot when I last saw you! how's your mom?" the man asked

"Oh, I'm your uncle Dojima and this shy little kid here is my daughter, Nanako" Dojima patted Nanako's head before she slapped him in the butt.

Yuu laughed at the sight.

"So you'll be here for a year huh? it's pretty quite here, just the way I like it. Hope you enjoy it here" Dojima said as the three slowly walked back to the car.

* * *

"Let's stop here for a while, Nanako needs to go to the bathroom" Dojimia said as the car slowed down on a gasoline station.

Yuu got off the station to get a better view of the rustic surroundings.

"From the city?" Yuu immediately looked at the gasoline attendant who approached him. Upon close inspection, the attendant looked like a girl who had a pretty set of eyes.

"Tokyo" Yuu replied.

"Well, there's nothing really much here. For now. I bet sooner or later, things are gonna happen here" The attendant said while taking a breath of fresh air.

"For the meantime, why don't you drop by here on your free time? We're always in need of part timers you know" The attendant smiled and offered her hand.

The moment Yuu shook her hand, he felt as if the world spun around.

"Are you alright?" the attendant asked with a worried face.

Dojima, who just got back with Nanako, looked worried when he saw Yuu's pale face.

"Let's get you home right away, you look like you need some rest" Dojima said as he opened the car to the driver's side of the door.

The drive home wasn't really that eventful, well at least Yuu wasn't feeling dizzy anymore, but he was still tired.

* * *

"And here's your room" Dojima said as he opened a door to a room that was roughly the size of Yuu's room back at Tokyo.

"For now, take your time and rest on that futon over there. We'll call you when it's dinner time" Dojima pointed at the futon he already prepared in advanced.

"Thank your mom for me for the cheesecake too" Dojima said before closing the door.

It was still bright outside but it was a really long day for Yuu, it didn't really take more than a minute for Yuu to fall asleep.

* * *

*Gasp*

Yuu gasped for air as he was awoken by Nanako.

"Are you okay?" Nanako asked with a worried face.

"I'm fine, just had a nightmare" Yuu calmly said even though he was clutching his chest and he had cold sweat all over him.

He can't explain his nightmare, he was chasing some entity and from there on, his memory got hazy.

"Well, we're about to have dinner. You should join us" Nanako said as she waited for Yuu to get up.

Together, the two descended the stairs. Yuu immediately recognized the smell of grilled beef as he got near the table.

"There's your bowl over there" Dojima pointed to a bowl on the table.

"Thanks" Yuu said as he took the bowl and sat in front of the tv near Dojima and Nanako.

There was grilled beef on top of the bowl of rice with some veggies on the side.

"Everyday is great at your Junes" Nanako cheerfully chimed with the commercial on the television.

Moments later, the tv switched to a more serious news which reported the affair of a reporter and a local politician.

Yuu looked over at Nanako who was silently munching on her food then over at Dojima who just finished his bowl and was already slicing up the cheesecake in front of them.

Dojima place a piece of slice each on three plates before taking a plate.

"It's really hard to buy cheesecake here, they sell some at Junes but it's not really that good" Dojima said before he shoved a spoonful into his mouth.

Yuu noticed the glimmer in his eyes and the faint tinge of happiness that came through his serious face.

"Ah~!" Nanako exclaimed as she also took a bite of the cheesecake.

"Must be in the blood" Yuu chuckled to himself as he recalled how much he and his mom also love cheesecake.

Dojima then started to talk about Yuu when he was still a kid and with that, the night ended with a happy note.

* * *

Morning came and the alarm rang. Yuu knew exactly the routine he had to go through on this day. But this day wasn't really that special to him, there was even a time when he had to transfer school three times in a year.

Suddenly, a knock came through the door.

"Come in" Yuu said as he sat up from his futon.

Nanako's head peered in before she stepped in.

"Good morning" Nanako greeted her cousin in a soft voice.

"Good morning Nanako, what do you have there?" Yuu greeted his cousin as he noticed that she was holding some cloth like material.

"It's your uniform, dad asked me to give it to you before he went to work.

Yuu took notice that his uncle left for work really early and stood up to accept the uniform from Nanako.

"Thanks" Yuu said with smile before Nanako made her exit.

It didn't really take that much time for Yuu to prepare himself and after changing into his new uniform, Yuu noticed that he had messages on his phone from the classmates he had in his previous school.

Yuu replied to them as he carefully descended the stairs.

Greeted by the aroma of pancakes and egg, Yuu stared up from his phone and looked at the food on the table then looked at Nanako who was washing a pan then back to the food on the table.

Pancakes, scarmbled eggs, and toast. Not really grand but also not something you'd expect from a kid as old as Nanako.

"You made all these?" Yuu asked as he took a pancake and bit through it. It was good. Not fantastic but still good.

Nanako nodded as she wiped the pan dry.

"I had to do at least these since dad is always at work" Nanako said as she hang the pan on the wall.

"But dad said that he was't that busy today and he'd be able to get home before dinner today" Nanako's smile shone, the pure happiness that Yuu saw from her smile melted his heart in a snap.

The two had a light conversation over their breakfast before Nanako informed him that they had to leave for school.

* * *

The air was crisp and there wasn't much sound around other than the distinct chatter of the students walking around them.

Nanako tugged on Yuu's sleeves.

"I'm going this way and Yasogami's just a few minutes down that path" Nanako said to Yuu

"Take care Nanako" Yuu said to Nanako. Nanako gave a faint smile before she turned to her direction.

There was not much student around, not as much as to what Yuu was used to.

"Hey, is that a new student?" Female student A whispered to her group while looking at Yuu from the side.

"Looks like it. Seems like he's also from the city" Female student B replied.

"Really? if Saa-chan says so then he must be from the city! Ah! just like that Hanamura kid huh Saki-chan" Student A excitedly said.

"Seems like he'll be popular" Female student B said as she pushed her glassed in.

"He's really good looking, how about you Saki? you think so?" Female student A nudged Female student C who was right beside her.

"Well, he does look good" Female student C said with a laugh.

"How about we walk with him, huh? most likely, he's going to be an under classman. I mean, who transfers during their third year? right?" Student A grinned as she tugged the two other students with her.

"Hiya!" Yuu's train of empty thoughts was crashed by female student A as she appeared out of nowhere.

"Hello" Yuu politely said with a smile. He learnt from his past experiences that being at least a bit sociable would make life at school a whole lot easier.

"Are you new here?" Student A asked to which Yuu politely nodded, not forgetting to smile all along.

"ohhhh, well I'm Shinozaki Kanon and this two over here is Minamoto Sayaka and Konishi Saki" Kanon exclaimed while tugging Sayaka and Saki's arms.

Shinozaki Kanon had pink hair tied into a ponytail that reached her neck, lightly tanned skin, and an athletic build which was the opposite of Minamoto Sayaka who had dark brown hair that was let down and a really fair skin.

Konishi Saki also had the same skin color with shinozaki Kanon and had wavy light brown hair.

"Narukami Yuu" Yuu said putting on his best smile.


	2. Chapter 2

"So, Yuu, where are you from?" Kanon sent a barrage of questions toward Yuu, he even thought that she'd be better than the lead host at that celebrity entertainment show that airs during saturday nights.

Suddenly, they heard a loud scream- followed by a crash.

It was a student riding a bike, might have gotten out of control but he somehow ended up inside a trash can, upside down.

All of them stopped for a moment to take in what just happened then Kanon continued her interview and all of them walked past the student who just crashed, as if it was nothing.

But then, a sudden shout from behind made them stop in their tracks, again.

"Saki-senpai!" The student who just crashed called out. The student was running towards them with his bike by his side, he looked like he was out of breath.

The student finally caught up to them and flashed them a really huge smile.

"Morning senpais!" the student exclaimed as he scanned the senpais then stopped right at Yuu who was staring at him intently.

"Huh? are you new?" The student asked. Yuu nodded but he wasn't really listening, he was so focused on the small pieces of garbage that sat on top of the student's hair- especially that straw that's been sticking out.

"He's also from the city like you Yosuke!" Kanon exclaimed.

"Woah really! Now there's two of us!" The student exclaimed with joy, he then introduced himself "I'm Hanamura Yosuke of class 2-A!" Yosuke said with a huge grin.

"I'm Narukami Yuu, second year but I still don't know my class" Yuu said while trying to maintain eye contact, away from Yosuke's hair.

"A second year too?! This must be fate! ohh how the Gods must have noti-" Yosuke got cut off when Kanon dragged Yuu away from him.

"Just try to act like you don't see him, 'kay?" Kanon said to Yuu with a wink.

"Hey! I heard you, you know!" Yosuke exclaimed as he tailed behind the group, rolling his bike along.

* * *

"This is the place Narukami" Sayaka said as they stopped in front of the faculty room.

"The teachers here will know what class you're in" Sayaka smiled before pushing back her glasses.

The trio of third years headed off while waving their arms and shouting good-bye.

Yosuke sighed beside Yuu which startled him a bit because he thought that Yosuke already stopped following them a while ago.

"Hey man, I'm going to get into my class now okay? Hope were in the same class!" Yosuke flashed a smile and ran off.

*Slide*

Yuu looked around the room and approached a friendly looking teacher, asking for the roster.

The man Yuu approached smiled and pointed him to two tables on the opposite corner, "Those are the tables of the second-year advisers, this is the third year's"

Yuu followed to where the man is pointing, there was only one person there as the other one is vacant, the man didn't really looked... approachable.

Nevertheless, Yuu approached the man in the blue suit, asking if his name is in his roster.

"Narukami Yuu?" The man asked staring up at him with a frown

"Heh, another one from the city? Here to pick up girls huh?" The man hissed at Yuu.

"Well, you're in my class so watch yourself or you're gonna go right into my shitlist" The man stood up and glared at him, his buckteeth was so pronounced throughout his yabbering.

"Follow me into the room full of idiots like you" The man grumbled.

Yuu knew that they were near the classroom as he heard already heard some noises, there was this really loud girl who kept shouting to someone to pay her the steak she deserved.

Yuu shrugged it off.

*Slide*

Yuu heard the noisy classroom simmer down into silence as the teacher walked in, though there were audible disappointed sounds.

"Shaddap ya crazed monkeys" The teacher slammed the book he's been holding onto the table.

"Today, we have a new transferee, someone from the city, now don't go thinking of doing anything or you're gonna right into my shitlist!" the teacher pointed a finger on the book he placed on the table.

Yuu took this as a cue to enter the room, he could hear gasps and whispers from the classroom.

"Lucky!" an audible voice said out loud, there were a lot of smiles out there.

"Hello, I'm Narukami Yuu, please take care of me" Yuu said as he bowed.

*SLAM*

The entire classroom instantly silenced

"I saw you make eye contact with that girl over there!" The teacher yelled out loud.

"Which girl?" Yuu asked trying to question his assumption which turned out to anger the teacher more.

"That's it! NOW you're on my shitlist!" The teacher raged. Thankfully, someone called his attention.

"Teacher, can he sit over here?" The girl donning a green jacket said after retracting the hand she raised.

"You deaf? sit over there!" The teacher pointed to the empty seat next to the girl in green.

Yuu made his way to the seat, he could feel the intense stares he was receiving.

"Tough-luck huh?" The girl in green said to Yuu once he got down to his seat.

"That's Morooka sensei, AKA, king Moron. You could say he's the worst teacher ever in the history of Yasogami" The girl said in a whisper while rolling her eyes.

Yuu laughed before uttering a thanks to the girl.

"I'm Chie, Satonaka Chie by the way" The girl flashed Yuu a smile before shoving a piece of meat into her mouth, she was keeping a container of sliced up steak in he table.

"Want some?" Chie offered as she showed a little part of the container to which Yuu politely rejected.

In a few minutes, home room was over and a bunch of people have gathered at Yuu's table.

They were all asking him a lot of questions, some were inviting him to lunch and all but then something caught everyone's attention.

"What do you mean you broke my cd? HA?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!" Chie said while holding up yosuke by the neck part of the shirt.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I never really meant it, it was an accident! I was riding my bike whe- GUHHHH" Chie kicked Yosuke somewhere in gnads and left him to die in pain outside the hall.

"This is gonna cost you steak! and good steak I'm telling ya. High quality steak" Chie scoffed as she turned around to sit back on her desk.

If someone were to film whatever happened, it might have been censored due to extreme violence.

"Hey Yukiko, wanna get some lunch?" Chie said as she got back to her desk

"Sure" The girl sitting on fron of Chie said. She was really pretty, with long black hair and a slender body, but it's not like it had any effect on Yuu.

"How about you join us, Yuu?" Chie offered.

"I didn't really bring any food. I was just planning on buying one from the cafeteria" Yuu said.

"Hmmm, you can take my emergency supply" Chie said as she dug a large container from her bag

"Here. I'm supposed to eat that as a snack though but think of it as a welcome gift" Chie grinned as she shoved the large and heavy container to Yuu's arm.

"Thanks Chie" Yuu smiled as he stood up

"Awwwww, I just asked you to lunch earlier didn't I, Yuu-kun" A girl pouted. Yuu apologized, it was always better to stay with the people who seemed sane, Yuu thought to himself.

* * *

As the trio made their way to the rooftop, Chie started defining the different types of meat and slowly progressed into the different types of sauce.

Once they reached the rooftop, Chie immediately sat down on a ledge and patted the girl she brought with her on the back.

"This is Amagi Yukiko" Chie said.

"Nice to meet you" Yukiko said with a slight bow.

"You know the Amagi Inn? her family runs that place, she's the heiress" Yukiko humbly waved it off as Chie exclaimed it.

"She's really pretty huh" Chie playfully nudged on Yuu's arm, leaving Yukiko emabarrassed.

Yuu smiled at her at decided to open the 'emergency supply' that Chie gave to him.

Lo and behold, it was filled to the brim with half rice and the other half some meath with some sauce on it. No wonder it was so heavy.

But it couldn't defeat the container that Chie was holding, it was more or less twice the size of the container that Yuu was holding.

Chie begand shoveling the foon into her mouth the moment she opened her lunch.

"Pardon her" Yukiko gave a small laugh as she opened hers.

In contrast to Chie's lunch, Yukiko had mostly seafood and vegetables in it and seemed to have been focused more on quality than quantity.

"You made that?" Yuu asked before digging into his lunch.

Yukiko immediately reacted, saying that it was their chef that made her lunches and that she wasn't really that good.

Time flew by quickly and before Yuu knew it, classes have ended.

"Hey Yosuke" Chie slammed her palm on Yosuke's desk

"I hope you did not forget our deal" Chie said in a really grim voice, Yosuke gulped and shivers ran through Yuu's back.

"Okay then!" Chie intantly perked up.

"Hey Yukiko, wanna eat some steak? it's on Yosuke" Chie grinned as Yosuke flinched

"No, I'm fine, I'm watching my weight plus they really need a hand back at the inn" Yukiko said as she was organizing her stuff.

"Bummer. Oh! how abouy you?" Chie turned to face Yuu who was just about to get up.

"Oh we could give you a tour while we're at it! whaddya say huh?" Chie said as she tried to convince Yuu to come.

Yuu didn't really want to be on Chie's bad side, her grim voice still echoed inside his head and he somewhat agreed.

As they were walking outside, Chie never failed to explain the menu of every restaurant they passed by while Yosuke kept on sighing and murmuring about how he could have bought his own cd instead.

* * *

"Huh?" Chie said ss she looked around.

"I thought I said I luxury steak! Why in the world are we at Junes' food court?!" Chie exclaimed

"Hey hey hey, With the three of us, this is all I could afford okay?" Yosuke reasoned as he waved around his wallet.

"Now just sit there sir and ma'm while I order our steak" Yosuke said with confidence

"Even if it's at Junes, steak for three people isn't that cheap Chie. Is this really alright?" Yuu asked Chie

"Relax, he's the son of the manager here, he gets discount" Chie replied with a carefree tone.

A few moments later, Yosuke came wobblin back- trying to hold a tray with three plates and three drinks.

"Whew, man was this heavy" Yosuke distributed the plates of steak and the drinks but stopped as he looked up.

Chie and Yuu followed Yosuke's stare and saw that it was focused on a girl wearing a Junes apron- Saki Konishi, the girl Yuu met at the gates earlier this morning.

"If I were Saki senpai, I would've already filed a restraining order against you" Chie said before facing her food and dancing some weird dance of joy.

Thanks to Chie's exaggerated dance of joy, Saki noticed the trio and walked closer to them.

"H-Hey senpai" Yosuke said with an idiotic smile on his face.

"Oh hey Hana-chan" Saki said while smiling. Yosuke looked like he could be buried alive and he'd still have that smile plastered on his face.

"Ah Yuu" Saki mentioned Yuu's name as she turned to face him.

"So you're hanging out with Hana chan huh? did he bother you?" Saki asked Yuu with a worried expression

"No, not at all" Yuu said while waving his arms.

"That's great. Hana chan's a really good guy but if he starts to really bother you then just say it straight to his face!" Saki's expressioned lightened "Gotta go now, enjoy your stay" Saki ssid as she went back to her work.

"Hey Yosuke, mind if I take half of your steak?" Chie asked as she was slicing away almost the entire portion of Yosuke's steak to her plate.

Yosuke just gave a lovestruck yes and a nod.

The steak was actually better than you normal beef, Yosuke kept on bragging that they used Inaba beef in this branch, apparently, it was a cut above normal beef.

Chie went on and on about how protein is good for your body while they walked alongside the foodstands, Chie picking up food from every food tasting station.

It was already about to get dark, but before leading Yuu to the path to his home, the trio decided to take a detour, something to promote the beauty of Inaba as what Yosuke was saying.

After some turns and walk and violent eruptions from Chie, they found several police cars up ahead their track.

"Hey, let's check it out" Yosuke said as he hurriedly walked to the area perimitered with a yellow "Do not cross tape", Yuu and Chie followed suit.

Whaf they found in the cenfer was a dead body, it was the body of the female reporter who was involved in an affair with a local politician.

"Do not cross that line kid" Dojiml warned Yosuke as Yosuke tiuched the tape. Dojima noticed his nephew with the group and came towards them.

"What are you doing here?" Dojima asked Yuu as he removed his gloves and crossed the tape to get outside the perimeter.

"My friends were showing me around" Yuu replied.

"Well just keep out of trouble okay?" Dojima said while looking at Yuu but then his attention shifted to his assistant who was hurling nearby.

"Tell Nanako I won't be able to get home early" Dojima said before walking over to his assistant.

"Dude, your uncle's a detective? sweet!" Yosuke giddily said.

Moments later, the trio finally arrived at Yuu's house and parted ways.

Yuu stepped into the house and was greeted by Nanako who went back to finishing her assignment. Yuu remembered that his unclessaid he won't be able to leave early but he knew Nanako would be disappointed if she knew, still- there was nothing he could do. It's not like he could go and replace Dojima as a detective.

Yuu approached Nanako and told her about Dojima, Nanako's expression was obviously disappointed but she didn't cry or poutmuch over it.

To liven up the atmosphere, Yuu decided he'd make dinner for the both of them.

There weren't much ingredients but Yuumanaged to make some chicken stew. Nanako looked really happy with ths food and gave Yuu a thumbs up after she cleaned out her plate.

Yuu happily went back to his room and noticed that some of his stuffs have arrived, it took a few hours for Yuu to finally put everything into place. Now, to test the tv.

After plugging in the tv cord, Yuu switched on the tv and smiled at himself as the screen showed a commercial of some coffee drink and an idol named Risette. Just asYuu was abiut to turn off the tv, the image on the screen changed, it wasn't that catchy commercial with an idol, it was somewhat dark and there was only a single person on the screen. He knew who the girl was.

The waves of her hair, the droop of her eyes, the curve of her lips.

No doubt. It was Saki Konishi.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey there! I took some time to read back on the couple chapters and I almost died from the amount of typos there, really - Apologies for that.

Back to the story.

Don't forget to review!

* * *

It was definitely Saki Konishi.

Yuu stared at the screen for a while, asking himself why his senpai is appearing on the tv.

Drawing closer to the tv, Yuu felt his hand move itself slowly towards the screen.

His hand went in as Yuu's eyes widened in disbelief.

"I must be dreaming" Yuu thought to himself as he started to retract his hand.

Suddenly, something cold pulled his hand from inside the television screen.

Yuu felt fear as he struggled to pull back his hand out of the cold grasp of an entity from the other side of the screen.

*THUD*

* * *

*nudge*

*nudge**nudge*

Yuu's eyes slowly opened to see who was nudging him, which was Nanako.

"Why are you on the floor?" Nanako asked.

"I sleep walk sometimes" Yuu said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Nanako commented "By the way, you should already get dressed. I'll start preparing breakfast." Nanako said with a curious look in her eyes before she made an exit.

Immediately, Yuu stood up and slowly tried to remember the event that happened before he blacked out.

From the lump on the back of his head, Yuu thought that he might have hit his head on the table as he was trying to pull his hands out of the screen.

Yuu's eyes widened as he remembered his hand inside the screen. It took a moment for Yuu's eyes to slowly shift to the television screen.

Slowly, slowly, Yuu raised his right hand up to touch the screen.

His finger tips went in. Last night was not a dream.

A flash of memory of the cold hand from last night came across Yuu's head, making him immediately retract his hand.

Yuu wiped his sweat off and decided to keep this a secret from the people at home, he didn't exactly know why but he didn't want them to know about it until he himself figures it out.

After changing, Yuu decided to just have a quick breakfast, and leave earlier to clear his thoughts, it was just his second day but he couldn't feel at ease.

Yuu opened the refrigerator and immediately closed it, his eyes wide open, he did not even know what he saw.

Slowly opening the refrigerator's door again, Yuu took a long hard stare at the bowl of ?food? inside, then back at Nanako who was just finishing her breakfast preparation.

"Dad sometimes brings food home, sometime he cooks and just leaves it there" Nanako said before pulling one of the dining chair and sitting on top of it.

Deciding that there was nothing edible in the refrigerator, Yuu closed the door with a sigh and decided to have breakfast with Nanako.

It was a very uneventful breakfast, Nanako looked very busy reading an exercise book while Yuu was drowned in the thoughts of Saki and his hand entering the screen- along with the mystery ?food? inside the ref.

* * *

Stepping outside earlier than usual, Yuu slowly took his path and gave a better look to his surroundings, hoping to refresh his mind.

Passing by a weapon shop, a tofu shop, some store, Yuu kept walking until a certain restaurant with a large "AIYA" name on top, some featured menu posted on the door and a "We deliver anywhere, anytime!" signboard on the side.

Intrigued, Yuu entered the inviting restaurant.

As he entered, Yuu was greeted by a middle aged man.

"Welcome to Aiya!" The man said with a smile "Today's special is our Beef bowl gyudon topped with Aiya's special sauce and select farm fresh egg"

"Could I take that out?" Yuu asked as he sat on one of the stools facing the man.

"Sure!" The man replied and went to the back room, returning after a while with a black bento box that did not look disposable.

Yuu stared at the bento box and asked if he had to return it.

"It's fine, just leave it anywhere and we'll pick it up" the man said as he gave Yuu the box

Puzzled, Yuu did not make any more remarks and paid for the bento before leaving.

* * *

A lot of thoughts have been running across Yuu's mind, there was the Saki and the tv thing - the mystery ?food? inside the refrigerator - and the Aiya restaurant with their leave it anywhere comment on his bento box.

Yuu, deep in thoughts, slowly trailed behind a couple of girls from the same school.

Absent-mindedly moving his feet with his eyes on the ground.

"Yuu!"

Yuu looked up to find the owner of the voice who called him, only to figure that the two girls in front of him were his senpais, Kanon and Sayaka.

Kanon's energetic face from before looked worried as they waited for Yuu to catch up to them.

Yuu also noticed the Sayakas pale demeanor.

"Is there something wrong?" Yuu asked as he caught up.

"It's Saki. She's been missing" Sayaka said.

Yuu was taken aback at what Sayaka said as he recalled seeing her on tv last night.

"I think I saw her on the tv last night, what was that?" Yuu blurted as he internally questioned her whereabouts.

Sayaka immediately glanced at Yuu with surprise.

"That must be the urban legend here, it says that you will see your soulmate when you turn on the tv during midnight." Sayaka said.

"Really?" Yuu replied as if talking to himself.

"Come on! let's head to school, she might be there" Kanon said before the trio continued heading towards the school.

"When did she go missing?" Yuu asked while keeping up his pace.

"Yesterday. Apparently, she didn't come back home after her shift at Junes." Kanon replied.

"Saki might have problems at home but we know her, she's not the type to just run away from home" Sayaka added, her brown hair fluttering in the air as they speed walked towards school.

Despite being filled with thoughts, Yuu couldn't help but notice Sayaka's irregular strides and unusual breathing intakes. Being the son of doctors, Yuu knew that something was off but couldn't get himself to halt their speed walk since Kanon seemed really determined.

Upon entering the gates, Kanon slapped Yuu's back.

"I'll go ahead!" Kanon said as she ran off.

"I'll just wait here outside, in case Saki walks by. " Sayaka said.

"Are you okay?" Yuu asked as he observed Sayaka try to stabilize her breathing.

"Really, I'm fine" Saki said as she tried to plaster a smile on her worried face.

Without saying a word, Yuu stepped closer to sayaka and held her hand, earning a gasp from her.

"Wha-what are you doing" Saki was obviously flustered and was trying to retract her hand.

"You have a very slow pulse rate" Yuu commented as he let go if Sayaka's hand.

"I-It's nothing" Sayaka said as she held her hand to her chest.

Athletic people usually had slower pulse rates than average people but it seemed like a different case for Sayaka.

"Ho ho ho, what do we have here" Chie said as she popped out of nowhere behind Sayaka.

"Pretty cheeky for the new kid to go for one of the third year idols" Chie said while giving Yuu a nudge, teleporting in a split second and appearing behind Yuu.

"He's not" Sayaka said while looking down at the ground, he face as red as a ripe cherry tomato.

Chie grinned before asking "Why are the two of you here this early anyways?".

"We're looking for Saki senpai, you?" Yuu replied

"Well I had plans to stop by at Yukiko's and stuff but they're pretty busy. So what about Saki senpai?" Chie light heartedly asked.

"She's missing" Sayaka plainly replied "We're trying to see if she'd go to school today after not coming home last night, have you seen her?"

Chie's jaw dropped "Well not that I can recall but Saki senpai doesn't seem the type, she's always so light".

"Mind if I help? Three people are better than two" Chie said as she rummaged her bag and brought out three jerky sticks and offered Sayaka and Yuu one to which they both refused.

* * *

Dozens of students have walked past the gate and no Saki has yet to be seen, the trio teamed back up with Kanon and walked around the school, hoping to find Saki who might just be hiding in the library or in the janitor's closet, but no luck.

"Why do I get a really bad feeling about this" Kanon said, her face as worried as ever.

* * *

Homeroom with Mr. Morooka, or King Moron as they called him, was pretty much uneventful other than his disturbing gestures and barrage of cusses to the students.

He's been threatening students left and right.

Yuu noticed that Yukiko's seat was empty and slowly wandered into idle thoughts.

*SLAM*

Yuu immediately stood up straight, surprised by Morooka suddenly slamming his hand on Yuu's desk.

"Even the new shithead can't concentrate for a second!" Morooka exclaimed with his saliva spitting out

"All you shitheads here think you have a future" Morooka removed his hands from Yuu's desk and made his way back to his desk.

"Guess this will be our homeroom for the rest of the school year" Chie said with a sigh.

*RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING*

Yuu could hear all the silent celebrations of the students as the bell rang, each of them excitedly watching every step Morooka took to exit the class.

"What is up with that!" Yosuke said as he approached Yuu and Chie and sat on Chie's desk.

"What's up now is that it's lunch time!" Chie said while singing a song about steak.

Yuu placed his bento from Aiya and stared at it for a second before moving his gaze to Chie's bento, noticing that his bento dwarfs in comparison.

"Hey can I join you guys?" Yosuke asked which was met by a quick no from Chie.

"C'mon, I have steak for lunch, I'll share it with you" Yosuke said as he brought up his bento.

"Why didn't you say so earlier" Chie said in a super friendly voice with a sweet smile.

* * *

"Tada" Yosuke said as he opened up his bento and showed off his large piece of steak to Chie

"I'll be taking my share then" Chie said as she sliced of half of the steak as if she was a landlady collecting her tenant's monthly rent.

"Hey have mercy" was all that Yosuke could say.

Yuu opened his bento, it looked really good, Chie was even staring at it.

Yuu picked up some beef slices and transferred them to Chie's bento box that was already brimming with meat, topped with half of Yosuke's steak.

"Huh? you shouldn't have to" Chie said as she transferred back the beef slices to Yuu's bento box.

"The heck?! what's with the double treatment huh?!" Yosuke said

*AGH* Yosuke writhed in pain after Chie delivered a quick jab to Yosuke's stomach with a smile.

"You can have it, I already have a lot here" Yuu brought back the beef slices to Chie's box.

"Thanks!" Chie brightly said as munched on one of the slices.

"Yukiko's seat was empty today, is she sick?" Yuu asked as he munched on his food.

Chie immediately stopped and looked at Yuu.

"You didn't know huh?" Yosuke said as he too stopped

"Remember that reporter who died yesterday? the one with the crime scene?" Yosuke continued "She was staying over at the Amagi Inn, bet they're dealing with a lot right now"

"I stopped by earlier this morning but their place was really surrounded by reporters and cameramen and Yukiko was pretty busy so I left" Chie added

"This small place is starting to get abuzz" Yosuke said but went from sad to instantly cheerful "Hey hey, you guys know that Midnight channel?"

"That soulmate legend something channel?" Chie said as Yuu listened

"Yeah, that's it. Well, guess who I saw last night!" Yosuke giddily exclaimed.

"Saki-senpai!"

"Saki-senpai"

Yosuke and Yuu said in tandem

"Huh?!" Yosuke was bewildered as he stared at Yuu "No way! does that mean..."

Yosuke stopped for a moment and continued "You're also her soulmate?"

Chie slapped her forehead.

"I don't think it's true" Yuu said after taking a bite off his bento.

"Of course it's not true, it might just be some prank where they record some people and show them on the midnight channel to enforce that legend" Chie said resuming her carnivorous intake.

Yuu recalled having his hand enter the tv last night and wanted to try it again.

"Yosuke" Yuu said, thinking hard.

"yeah?" Yosuke replied.

"What's the biggest tv you have at Junes?" Yuu asked with seriousness in his voice.

"Well not really that big as the city tvs but our biggest is this new 82 inch tv" Yosuke said while rubbing his chin.

"A person could easily with in there!" Yosuke laughed "I could show you around later" Yosuke offered.

"Thanks" was all that Yuu could say as the memory of his hand entering the tv kept on replaying inside his head.

* * *

The department store at Junes was really large, more spacious than the ones in Tokyo.

"Must be the cheaper land price here" Yuu thought to himself as he walked along the spacious isle.

"And here it is!" Yosuke said as he ran to the 82 inch tv he's been talking about.

"Remind me why I'm here again?" Chie said as she glanced at the tv then back to Yosuke.

"Oh! that new mini oven's on the other side o this floor" Yosuke acted as if he was a store attendant "I didn't know you cooked Chie"

"My mom does and she's been looking for a new oven" Chie replied as they both walked to the direction of the cooking appliance area.

"Hey Yuu do you wanna-" Yosuke looked back and was cut off as he saw Yuu.

Yuu's hands was inside the tv.

There was a moment of silence before Yosuke exclaimed "What the heck?!"

Chie and Yosuke ran to Yuu.

"I-Is that your hand? I-Inside the t-tv?" Chie stuttered, not believing her eyes.

"I think I can go in" Yuu said as he pushed his hand further into the screen.

"Dude, no, this is weird" Yosuke said in a very high pitched quiet voice and did a very weird dance.

"Let's just keep the attention off of here Yosuke, and stop doing that dance will ya!" Chie said, panicking.

"I can't help it! I can't handle this tension!" Yosuke said while dancing around with a panic-stricken face.

"Oh no no no, there's a woman with a kid approaching this direction" Chie said "Yuu, get your hand back here!"

Yuu turned his head to the woman with the kid and proceeded to retract his hand just before

*Bump*

* * *

"Oh no" Chie said as she sank in despair as she saw Yuu and Yosuke tumble into the tv set.

"Mommy" The kid tugged his mother's blouse and pointed at Chie.

The mother quickly changed her direction as she saw Chie writhing on the floor, crying.

"What do I do What do I do What do I do" Chie kept on internally panicking.

"They're going to file a missing person report and I'm the last person they've been seen with then and then" Chie continued to bawl her eyes out

"No! never mind about that, what if those two never even come back!"

Chie was clearly losing it but just then, an idea popped into her mind as she stopped crying and gazed into the tv set that the two just entered.

Chie stood up and approached the tv set, her hand slowly moving it's way towards the tv screen.

Seconds later, Chie's eyes grew wide in shock.


End file.
